The Bundestag on Thursday, January 30, stripped parliamentary immunity of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) MP Karin Strenz.

The parliament fined Strenz EUR 20 thousand last year. She is accused of taking a bribe of at least EUR 22 thousand to lobby for the interests of Azerbaijan in the PACE, Deutsche Welle reported.

About 100 prosecutors, the Federal Criminal Office and the Belgian police raided 16 sites over this case: the deputy’s office in the Bundestag, her personal apartment in Berlin, as well as in residential premises, offices and law firms in Berlin, the federal states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Bavaria, as well as in Belgium.

Ex-deputy receives 4 million from Azerbaijan

MP Eduard Lintner was also accused over the case.

Lintner, according to the prosecutor's office, received about EUR 4 million from Azerbaijan from 2008 to 2016 through British shell companies. He redirected a significant part of this money, minus his remuneration, to individual PACE members who were supposed to speak positively about the elections in Azerbaijan and oppose the demands for the release of political prisoners in this country.

In this case, there is also a third suspect, on the bribery and lobbying of the interests of Azerbaijan, whose name the investigation has not yet disclosed. He is accused of creating a shell company and opening bank accounts through his law office to transfer money from Azerbaijan to bribe PACE members.

The AfG leader Gauland also deprived of immunity, but in a different case

The Bundestag deprived the parliamentary integrity of the Alternative for Germany leader Alexander Gauland on Thursday. The decision was made at the request of the Frankfurt am Main Prosecutor's Office, seeking permission to search Gauland for suspicion of tax evasion. Frankfurt prosecutors ordered searches of the apartments in Gauland at his place of residence in Frankfurt am Main and Potsdam. The policy is blamed for the incorrect preparation of tax returns on their income for several years.